11:48 Today's stage is the longest in the Vuelta this year and it will be stifling out there in Don Quixote country. Already the temperatures this morning were around 36°c - expect that to increase over the course of the afternoon. The flat itinerary today allows for a few intermediate sprints but should come together for another bunch sprint, so expect the likes of Zabel, Boonen, Hushovd and, of course, Petacchi up there...

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 01:23 PM

220 km Race leader Bradley McGee failed to sign in today at the start of the stage, but he is riding in the peloton now...

bad gambler

08-30-2005, 01:23 PM

oh god, not another thread which rips off commentary from another site :rolleyes:

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 01:32 PM

oh god, not another thread which rips off commentary from another site :rolleyes:

lol... what am I meant to do? watch it on tv? ;)

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 02:03 PM

77 km The lead of the three French musketeers is down to 2'37"... It won't last for much longer, but it's a rare occurance to see so much tricolor talent off the front of the bunch.

78 km Before Van Bon cracked, T-Mobile's Oscar Sevilla rode through his home town Ossa de Montiel. The Spaniard was allowed to great clear of the peloton to wave at all his friends and family. A great photo opportunity...

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 02:08 PM

65 km Leon Van Bon is taken back into the peloton... Those three ahead are around 2'25" clear of the bunch. The road is long, flat and straight, traversing what looks remarkably like a desert, so parched is the land.

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:00 PM

22 km Torsten Schmidt gives it a go! The Gerolsteiner rider has a pop at a lone attack once Kern is swept up...

25 km But it all comes back together... THEN KERN TRIES AGAIN! What persistance from the Frenchman! He's determined to give it a go, but cannot manage to open up a gap of more than thirty metres, so might take the foot of the gas soon.

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:02 PM

20 km Benoit Joachim the next to attack! The Luxembourg rider from Discovery jumps off the front in a bid to catch Schmidt.

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:06 PM

19 km Relax Fuenlabrada's Luis Pasamontes attacks too! The Spaniard manages to join both Joachim and Schmidt ahead and the three ride together with a 20" gap back to the peloton.

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:08 PM

17 km The three leaders are giving it a go, but Petacchi's Fassa Bortolo train have yet to apply the pressure. Yesterday's winner is well placed in the bunch at the moment...

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:15 PM

9 km The trio pass under the nine clicks to go banner with a reduced lead of 22 seconds. Their time is pretty much up, but it was a decent effort to derail the train.

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:17 PM

7 km The Fassa men have moved to the front, lead by leader-out extraordinaire Fabio Baldato. Joachim and Schmidt throw in the towel as Pasamontes zips off the front to get some good air-time for his sponsor Relax Fuenlabrada. I have no idea what they do... maybe make beds or something? Or comfy cushions? Condoms even?

:haha::haha:

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:24 PM

2 km Petacchi's there... none of the other sprinters can be seen as yet... Wait, Zabel's there. It's really hard to see who's who due to the bright light - the colours are just bleached out...

3 km Not long to go now... Fassa have the monopoly on the front...

5 km It's all back to normal business now for Fassa as Pasamontes is gobbled up. Five km to go... ANOTHER ATTACK BY BOUYGUES! It stands no chance to work... and the lone rider gives up after a minute of intense effort.

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:25 PM

1 km Into the final kilometre... there's a big bend 350m from the end... Petacchi's out there alone... Boonen's completely out of it... STEELS GOES ON THE OUTSIDE! But Boonen is back, and HUSHOVD! The Norwegian zips down on the outside, but Petacchi flexes his muscles...

17:32 No changes in the overall standings, with Australian Bradley McGree maintaining his leaders' overall golden jersey. Thanks for joining us today - see you tomorrow for more cycling in the sun!

17:24 So, it's a 14th career Vuelta win for the Italian, but it was a close thing. Holding a central line, I don't think he saw Hushovd rip down the left of the road... The Norwegian almost pipped him, despite the Italian's celebrations.

Action Jackson

08-30-2005, 03:46 PM

We want Lance Armstrong.

btw, Jim the 5th set breaker thread on GM needs you.

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 03:51 PM

VAMOS BRADLEY

its.like.that

08-30-2005, 04:42 PM

We want Lance Armstrong.

btw, Jim the 5th set breaker thread on GM needs you.

I'm on my way...

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 01:58 PM

stage 5:

48 km The lead is down to 3'10" with under fifty clicks to go. I don't think these men will stay out in the front much longer.

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:11 PM

42 km Calcagni and De La Fuente drop the other six riders on a small uncategorised climb. The pair are joined by Leblacher, with the other five following at 20 seconds.

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:22 PM

25 km The lead is down to just 38 seconds now for those eight. A last reminder of their names, before they become but a part of the peloton: Patrick Calcagni (Liquigas), David de la Fuente (Saunier), Eric Leblacher (CA), Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis), Michael Barry (Discovery), Thorwald Veneberg (Rabobank), Jorge Garcia (Relax), and Jakob Piil (CSC).

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:29 PM

12 km Angel Vicioso of Liberty Seguros hits the deck on a tricky bend!! Meanwhile Samuel Sanchez of Euskaltel attacks on the front! Sanchez is riding right on the right hand side of the road on a small strip of tarmac between the cobbles and the pavement.

13 km We're onto the third category climb of the Alto de Castillo, which as the name suggests, is a winding cobble stone climb up to the castle. The eight leaders have been caught by the peloton...

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:30 PM

11 km Joachim Rodriguez of Saunier joins Sanchez in front, then passes him! The Spaniard is going for those mountain points - he is the current leader of the competition - but also could be a threat to McGee in the overall...

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:33 PM

9 km Heras, Bettini, Landis and Sastre have also opened up a few seconds off the peloton, joining Rodriguez ahead on the descent.

10 km Rodriguez goes over the summit about ten seconds to the better of the peloton, which has stretched right out. The question is: will it come together before the finish for a sprint or will it be won by a solo artist?

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:36 PM

8 km There are about thirty-five odd riders in the leading group at the moment. No one's attacking out of it... The pictures are so bad it's difficult to see just who's there, and whether or not it features gold jersey Bradley McGee...

:lol:

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:39 PM

6 km Sanchez joined by Juan Mercado of QuickStep... McGee is in that front group of thirty odd riders.

7 km The standard of camera skills coming from the images in Spain is absolutely rubbish! What we can see, however, is that Samuel Sanchez has attacked again on the descent and is leading the drive to the finish.

:haha::haha:

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:42 PM

3 km Paolo Bettini has joined his teammate Mercado and Sanchez in front. The threesome only have a few seconds on the chasing group.

4 km There's no sign of Alessandro Petacchi in this leading group... The descent is almost over - they'll be a few kilometres of flat before the finish...

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:45 PM

1 km Just one kilometre to go. Those three have been caught. Boonen is on the front of the peloton, with Hushovd is toe. McGee is there too...

its.like.that

08-31-2005, 02:48 PM

0 km Perdiguero takes second! Bettini was not happy at the end. He dropped back as if waiting for Boonen to come through, but it looked like Boonen has done the early hard work for his team-mate and not the other way round. By the end, there were under 20 riders in that leading group...

78 km Erik Zabel's T-Mobile are doing their fair share too, eying a win for the German. Zabel finished second yesterday for the second time in this year's race. He also has a third place to his name. Maybe today's the day he'll finally get that elusive win. For his sheer consistency, he does deserve it, especially seeing that this could well be his last Vuelta.

125 km At the summit of the Port de Collada de Tosses (first cat), nine riders passed over ahead with a 2'55" lead over the peloton. They were: Martin Perdiguero and Oscar Pereiro (Phonak), Inigo Cuesta and Joaquin Rodriguez (Saunier Duval), Eladio Jimenez (Euskaltel), Michele Scarponi and Angel Vicioso (Liberty Seguros), Stjin Devolder (Discovery Channel), Rik Verbrugghe (Quickstep). The other men from the breakaway have been swept up by the peloton.

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 01:05 PM

100 km After a long descent into the valley below, the advantage of the leading group has increased to 3'55".

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 01:05 PM

99 km This stage is really taking it's toll on some of the riders: we have four new withdrawals in the shape of Max Van Heesjwik (Discovery channel), winner of the 7th stage at Vinaros, Ruslan Ivanov (Domina Vacanze), Angel Luis Casero (Comunidad valenciana) and Marcel Strauss (Gerolsteiner).

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 01:06 PM

98 km The average speed of the third hour of racing was 39.9km/h.

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 01:06 PM

88 km The big losers so far today have been golden jersey Denis Menchov and his team, Rabobank. The have no presence in that leading group which now has 4'50" over the peloton. The Dutch team are now obliged to lead the chase because Roberto Heras' team-mate Michele Scarponi is now virtual leader (3'46" behind this morning).

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 01:54 PM

41 km Pereiro and Inigo Cuesta have been dropped by the leaders. Further back, Mancebo's attack has failed and he's engulfed by the peloton.

45 km It's all beginning to shake up on the front of the peloton! Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears) attacks half way through the climb. David Bernabeu (Cominidad Valenciana), present in the breakaway earlier before sinking back, holds his wheel. The two men will try and join forces with Thomas Zeigler (Gerolsteiner) who rolls between the leaders and the bunch.

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 01:57 PM

40 km That leaves just a trio of riders leading the race: Rik Verbrugghe (Quick.Step), David Lopez (Euskaltel) and Aitor Osa (Illes Balears).

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:00 PM

39 km Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Valenciana) joins the trio in front. The lead is down to 3'15" over the peloton. Juan Miguel Mercado (QuickStep) is riding 20" in front of the bunch. News just in: Izido Nozal has just abandoned the race. The Liberty Seguros rider was second in 2003 and his departure will be a big loss for Roberto Heras.

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:04 PM

38 km Menchov is looking pretty comfortable in the slim-lined peloton. Heras is there too, of course.

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:08 PM

30 km Joseba Beloki is setting the pace on the front of the peloton. In front, it's now just Rik Verbrugghe (Quick.Step), Aitor Osa (Illes Balears) and Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Valenciana) together after David Lopez (Euskaltel) was dropped. There is a group of chasing riders about one minute back...

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:12 PM

28 km The trio pass over the summit of the Collet de Montaup. OSa took it from Quesada and Verbrugghe. The chasing pack are 1'14" behind, with the peloton a further 20" adrift. It looks like it will all come together on the final climb before, no doubt, the real attacks come into play.

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:15 PM

20 km The trio are going for glory as they near the descent. They're really giving it their all to stretch their lead. OH NO!! Aitor Osa goes down!! He overcooked that bend, then crashed into the barrier, almost losing his bike in the space between the metal work and the road!! He wasn't going too fast, but it wasn't nice. He'll need treatment and a bike change probably...

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:20 PM

19 km The chasers pass Osa, who looks in pain as he stands beside a support car. He may not even get back on his bike if those images are anything to go by...

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:21 PM

18 km So, it's just Verbrugghe and Adolfo Quesada in the lead now as they hit the town in the valley.

its.like.that

09-05-2005, 02:21 PM

18 km Aitor Osa is sitting in the boot of his support car, breathing deeply, his arm holding his shoulder. It looks like a broken collar bone there... It was so tragic. One minute it was going swimmingly, the next, he skids, slams into the barrier and it's curtains for the Vuelta.